Skills Driven Education

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October 1, 2010

Pondering over the quality of students who apply for technical education, it is worth attention that the aspiring young people who apply in institutions such as IIT show that at least 10-15 percent of these applicants are comparable to the students at major public universities in the US India VS world

Often heard government views, including views of Shri Kapil Sibal, Human Resource Development Minister, resonate of the great potential the India encompasses. It has been estimated that not far in the future, India will have a population ration where majority will be in segment of youth earners/ workers with minority remaining as dependent population, while most of the developed nations are to see a skew whereby majority of their respective populations will fall in category of dependent inhabitants. In such a scenario, India will hold the prospective workforce not only for itself but nations across the world. Foreseeing such a need, it becomes all the more important for us as a nation to have a skilled workforce which is not only trained but is recongnised or certified too, in order to deliver quality services.

Pondering over the quality of students who apply for technical education, it is worth attention that the aspiring young people who apply in institutions such as IIT show that ‘at least 10-15 percent of those applicants are of IIT quality and comparable to the students at major public universities in the U.S.’ At the same time, India as a nation has to still catch up with other countries. For instance, ‘A comparison between India and China in this regard shows that China has developed the technical education sector much more rapidly than India. China has produced more than 5,000 Ph.D. holders per year compared to India’s 1,000. China has also successfully implemented the concept of scalability as it currently has fifteen IITs (eight of which have only recently started), though it is still not clear how the newer IITs will be staffed with qualified faculty as in the existing IITs.’

Open Universities and Skill Development

Open universities offer skill development and vocational education programmes, as a part of higher education sector, unlike other mainstream higher education universities. These courses are additional course which are not offered by the latter, especially in area of skill development. The open universities provide flexibility, anywhere-anytime access to education.

For instance, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), the largest Open University offering distance learning programmes collaboration with Srei Sahaj e Village Limited, a part of Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited has come up with a cost effective skill development vocational programme, for Indian rural inhabitants. This has been channelised through over 29,000 Common Service Centres (CSCs) in states of West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, UP, Orissa and Tamil Nadu. This programme involves the learning strategy known as ‘Education That Works Learning System’ (ETWLS) that revolves around self regulated computational system and whereby, the skill assessment is done online.

SKILL DEVELOPMENT AT SCHOOLS
When it comes to skill education and vocational training, there is a noticeably high demand for skilled workers in the industry. The demand is met by supply of untrained/ non certifi ed labour, mainly consisting of illiterate youth/ children or the drop-outs. There have been lots of efforts made by the government in order to introduce vocational training in form of Industrial Training Institutes, etc, and other training centres of varying capacity across fi elds at higher education level, but there is hardly any initiative at K12 level for introduction of the same. The attitude towards training in areas away from the mainstream is not very positive in Indian context, especially for those who want to pursue and/ are in a position to pursue higher education. It is considered as the last or perhaps no option at all. For those students, however, who drop-out of school or are interested in becoming a part of the work force at an early age, vocational training and skill development are of utmost importance. Certifi cation in such cases, if provided, can help youth to attain good salaried jobs and earn a decent living. Without any kind of recognition, even if one is skilled, the person usually ends up having abrupt employment pattern or being unemployed off-and-on. The All India Council for Vocational Education under MHRD is responsible for planning, guiding and coordinating the programmes at national level for vocational education and training, mostly for the grade 10th pass students, besides the State Councils for Vocational Education at respective State Levels. A major question that rises is that of a ‘choice’.

Is it only the government school children who need to be ready for introduction of any skills or vocational training, because we observe a large drop-out from government schools? Shouldn’t there also be an effort to train students from public and private school as well so that, if there is a choice, the young people can join the workforce directly after secondary or senior secondary level? Offcourse, there is a need! However, still a greater need is that of bringing an attitude change in the society towards such training or learning. There is a need to introduce for our Indian audience the importance of the non formal education, which is taken as synonymous with the skill development and vocational training education, in a manner so that it is considered as an important a supplement to higher education, and not completely discarded as a left-over for those who cannot do anything else, with formal education.

Rita Kaul, Principal from The Millennium School, refl ects upon importance of non formal education or technical education, “At the Millennium School, besides academics, we anyway equip our students with a variety of life skills which will help them become productive citizens. It is an essential part of the cutting edge learning system called the Millennium Learning System adopted by us.” Similarly, SC Arora, Vice Chairman, Lotus Valley International School, mentioned that there is a need to make students adept with non-formal education or skill education and vocational training that can enable them to get a job immediately after school, more so students from that strata of the society who do not wish to pursue higher education.

He added that presently, most school students are not equipped with such skills that make them fi t for industrial based jobs. About inclusion of skill development in course and curriculum prescribed by CBSE, he opined that “Some subjects are there that cater to skill education and vocational training, but it is not adequate and most of the school do not go for this options.” We have in our school system some major drawbacks in form of hindrances such as absence of teachers, issues of quality and standardisation. Often technology is sought as a major tool to overcome these and add value to the in-use education system.

On similar lines, Rita Kaul, adds in support of role of technology for skill development and vocational training, “India has a fast-growing Service based industry. So there is defi nitely a huge role of IT based education if we want to dominate globally since it will help both in terms of increasing reach as well as enhancing quality.” ICT presents a more unique way of making learning interesting and existing, especially in reference to use of multi-media. With a similar opinion about role of ICT, SC Arora mentioned that for imparting any type of education ICT can be used in form of audio- video aids, which makes learning and grasping of a concept easier for students.

PRIVATE INITIATIVES AND SKILLDEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES
Skilled labour force is not only a demand of the industry but also a concern. In order to share the effort of creating a trained skilled force many private companies have started collaborative programmes to offer livelihood, especially to rural youth. One of such initiatives
is the Larsen and Toubro Ltd, ECC division’s initiative in partnership with MoRD, Government of India, where the former supports the latter for execution of Demand Driven Skill Developmentany kind of recognition, even if one is skilled, the person usually ends up aving abrupt employment pattern or being unemployed off-and-on. The All India Council for Vocational Education under MHRD is responsible for planning, guiding and coordinating the
programmes at national level for vocational education and training, mostly for the grade 10th pass students, besides the State Councils for Vocational Education at respective State Levels. A major question that rises is that of a ‘choice’. Is it only the government school children who need to be ready for introduction of any skills or vocational training, because we observe a large drop-out from government schools? Shouldn’t there also be an effort to train students from public and private school as well so that, if there is a choice, the young people can join the workforce directly after secondary or senior secondary level? Offcourse, there is a need! However, still a greater need is that of bringing an attitude change in the society towards such training or learning. There is a need to introduce for our Indian audience the importance of the non formal education, which is taken as synonymous with the skill development and vocational training education, in a manner so that it is considered as an important a supplement to higher education, and not completely discarded as a left-over for those who cannot do anything else, with formal education.

Rita Kaul, Principal from The Millennium School, refl ects upon importance of non formal education or technical education, “At the Millennium School, besides academics, we anyway equip our students with a variety of life skills which will help them become productive citizens. It is an essential part of the cutting edge learning system called the Millennium Learning System adopted by us.” Similarly, SC Arora, Vice Chairman, Lotus Valley International School, mentioned that there is a need to make students adept with non-formal education or skill education and vocational training that can enable them to get a job immediately after school, more so students from that strata of the society who do not wish to pursue higher education. He added that presently, most school students are not equipped with such skills that make them fi t for industrial based jobs.

About inclusion of skill development in course and curriculum prescribed by CBSE, he opined that “Some subjects are there that cater to skill education and vocational training, but it is not adequate and most of the school do not go for this options.” We have in our school system some major drawbacks in form of hindrances such as absence of teachers, issues of quality and standardisation. Often technology is sought as a major tool to overcome these and add value to the in-use education system. On similar lines, Rita Kaul, adds in support of role of technology for skill development and vocational training, “India has a fast-growing Service based industry. So there is defi nitely a huge role of IT based education if we want to dominate globally since it will help both in terms of increasing reach as well as enhancing quality.” ICT presents a more unique way of making learning interesting and existing, especially in reference to use of multi-media. With a similar opinion about role of ICT, SC Arora mentioned that for imparting any type of education ICT can be used in form of audio- video aids, which makes learning and grasping of a concept easier for students.

PRIVATE INITIATIVES AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES
Skilled labour force is not only a demand of the industry but also a concern. In order to share the effort of creating a trained skilled force many private companies have started collaborative programmes to offer livelihood, especially to rural youth. One of such initiatives is the Larsen and Toubro Ltd, ECC division’s initiative in partnership with MoRD, Government of India, where the former supports the latter for execution of Demand Driven Skill Development Programme. Under this programme the company offers training to rural youth (BPL) in area of construction. The initiative costs around INR 470 million, out of which MoRD is responsible for 30% of the funds and remaining 70% is being taken care of by L&T, for training and infrastructure facilities.

SHOULD SKILLS AND MAINSTREAM HIGHER EDUCATION MERGE?
Some opine that tertiary education and /skill development and vocational training should be a part of the mainstream higher education system while others opine the opposite. For instance, Navyug Mohnot, CEO, QAI, “Skill development and vocational training should be constituted as a separate entity, more so in a country like India. This will broad-base the provision of skill development linked to the investment cost of education. Most western countries have a developed framework consisting of sector specifi c Skill Development Councils and Guilds that track industry manpower statistics, track quality and provide certifi cations of skill sets acquired. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) do not typically understand the requirements of training needed for skill based jobs, as they specialise in grooming students for knowledge based jobs. However, HEI’s will gain by leveraging their brand, academic and physical infrastructure to provide private/corporate trainers a platform to disburse the skill development of the targeted manpower.” Participation of the private player facilitates not only infrastructural and monetary benefi ts to various programmes that they support, but also provides a platform for the youth in training to get hands on experience with the industry.

NATIONAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT MISSION IN INDIA
The 11th Five Year Plan aims to increase the present skill development capacity of 3.1 million per year to 15 million annually. India targets to develop manpower of 500 million skilled workers by 2022. The aim of the mission is to increase employability, meeting the supply demand balance, making employees adept with knowledge of technology and skills, improving livelihoods of people, and making skill development an attractive proposition for investment. The National Skill Development Mission is inclusive in nature and is to minimise disparities of gender, urban-rural, and employment in organised and unorganised sectors.

The objectives of the National policy on Skill Development include – creating opportunities to earn living, especially for disadvantaged groups, promoting participation of stakeholders from private sector in developing a workforce, creating a mechanism that caters to diverse needs of stakeholders/ industry and so on. Its coverage is to encompass development of institution-based skill development including ITIs/ITCs/vocational schools/technical schools/ polytechnics/ professional colleges, e-learning, webbased learning and distance learning and so on. The initiative promotes quality skill education to provide with skilled supply of labour to the dynamic, changing and increasing industrial demands. Under the same umbrella, effort are to be taken to create a framework of National Vocational Qualifi cation Framework (NVQF) in order to provide quality, fl exible, continuous, lifelong learning knowledge to the seekers of skill education. The initiative is to proceed with states becoming the key actors.

WHAT IS REQUIRED?
From the above note, it can be gatheredthat at present what we need to uplift the
value of skill development and vocational training in the country is
• Provide with trained instructor
• Provide with certifi cation and standardisation of courses available in the sector
• Have independent accreditation systems
• Include industry for facilitating various programmes in fi eld of skill training, and
• Bringing about change in the mindset of people about the fi eld, so that it can be regarded as more than ‘just the last option’

Connecting Schools

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October 1, 2010

Face to Faith Programme aims to offer an authentic and meaningful environment in which students can develop key 21st century skills such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking and problem-solving.

By Simmi Kher

Across the seas, in a conference room students of Bal Bharti Public School, Dwarka and students of Westhoughton School, Bolton, UK sat talking to each other as if they were in the same room. This was made possible by the Face to Faith Programme of Tony Blair Faith Foundation which aims to offer an authentic and meaningful environment in which students can develop key 21st century skills such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking and problem-solving. It also aims to improve young people's cultural/religious literacy, which is a vital skill in an increasingly complex, global society. Eyes glued to the plasma screen television and speaking to their peers at Westhought students were eloquent, honest and curious – which is a great starting point for any successful Video Conference. They had obviously really taken in the messages about communicating honestly in a respectful way.

Today one of the greatest challenges that the world faces is to allow people of different faiths, creeds, religions, beliefs to live together by celebrating the differences, which makes each individual unique. Collaboration, communication skills, information and media literacy
are all to be regularly found on the syllabus, acknowledged as vital tools for the 21st century.

We can already see how new technologies are stimulating radically new approaches to teaching and learning. Launched last June a global education programme 'Face to Faith' from the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, is designed to support this initative. By means of video-conferencing and an online community, students of different faiths work together to investigate specific global issues; discuss a range of opinions, values and beliefs; and explore the reasons for similar and different views. By learning about those of differing social, cultural and religious perspectives, young people build their awareness of the role of faith in their life and in the lives of others. As the name of the project suggests, it is based upon direct encounters between groups of young people from around the world, and is focused upon ideas of identity and belief. In India, 40 schools are enrolled as part of the programme. These schools have been connected to schools internationally as well as nationally. These students of different faiths work together to investigate specific global issues, discuss a range of opinions, values and beliefs and explore the reasons for similar and different views. By learning about those from differing social, cultural and religious perspectives, young people build their awareness on the role of faith in today's world.

All schools participating in Face to Faith undertake an introduction module focusing as it does upon developing the skills to enable meaningful dialogue. This is key which guides them through the principles and approaches of the programme and prepares students to engage in dialogue with those of different faiths. Thereafter, the programme is entirely flexible, offering subsequent modules focused upon major world issues approached through the perspectives of faith. Each of these issues modules also encourages students to get involved, in a very practical way, in meeting the challenges of those issues. Currently offering three distinct yet complementary modules on the topics of charity, poverty and wealth; environment; and the Art of Expression.

Within 'Face to Faith' we are operating within a wide range of educational cultures, from those that are student-centered to those that are extremely traditional and didactic. We use a three-stage model to help empower students (and teachers) with the skills of dialogue

Each module is offered as a full course, which requires an average of seven hours' class time, or as a short course, requiring approximately three hours' teaching time. There are also five short projects available for those schools which simply would like to try a one-hour taster session. Schools are also encouraged to design their own modules/projects and share these with the Face to Faith community.

Face to Faith is a global educational programme comprising of:

A series of facilitated video conferences, enabling direct encounter and structured exchange between students
An online community providing sustained engagement between schools as well as opportunities to link with a wide range of schools
Teacher training and support
A set of optional programme resources and modules
A team of facilitators who are on hand to moderate discussions and ensure that schools can find appropriate linking partners.
Face to Faith is designed to enhance your existing curriculum not to replace it. The suggested teaching modules address a range of
Different curricula subjects including humanities, religious and cultural studies and social sciences. Face to Faith has been developed by a team of international educational experts including leading academics and teachers, drawing on the latest pedagogical thinking and practice. Schools in India, Pakistan, Lebanon, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, UK, US and Canada are already engaged in the programme.

The video conferences between partner schools are a vital element of the Face to Faith programme. These vary in format in terms of certain dimensions.First is the structure. The students prepare their thoughts and ideas on a common issue, for example, the environment and present these to one another. Next is presence of Guest speakers. The students can pose questions to guests from a particular faith background

National News: October 2010

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October 1, 2010

Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology announces collaboration with France based L Ecole de Design

Bangalore-based Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology has announced a joint programwith L’École de Design, Nantes Atlantique, a premier design school in France, to offer
a two year advanced diploma program (post-graduate level) in Transcultural Design. The objective of this diploma, which is the fi rst of its kind in t e India, is to equip budding designers with leadership, creative and critical thinking skills to design products, services and communication for a globalizing world. The curriculum for the two year program has been developed in partnership with L’École de Design and will focus on interaction design, responsible innovation, ethnography and cultural hybridity in design. Beginning in October 2010, the program will enable Indian students to spend an academic year in France, studying and working, while French students do the same in India.

HIGHEST NUMBER OF FOREIGN STUDENTS AT IIM-A NEXT YEAR
With completion of 50th year, the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has another reason to celebrate. The prestigious institution is preparing to admit the highest number of foreign students under its student exchange programme for the next academic session. Offi cials at IIM-A have owed the large number of foreign students applying for admission into the institute to India’s growing global image as an emerging economy. The rising number of foreign students every year that come to pursue education at IIM-A is a proof of the institute’s popularity.

COLLEGE EXAMS ON MOBILE PHONES
Seshadripuram First Grade College, Yelahnka in Bangalore has taken up an extension to elaborate on its experiment of conducting students’ exams on mobile phones for all the courses. Last year the college had launched a pilot project for conducting examination for some courses, whereby students were provided mobile handsets preloaded with questions with four options as answers and the students had to click the correct answer, revise it and then click the submit button. Dr M Prakash, Principal, Seshadripuram First Grade College, Yelahnka, mentioned that effort is being taken to make evaluation and assessment paperless and speedy.

VIRTUAL LABS FOR STUDENTS
Vineet Joshi, Chairman, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has recently, announced that the board will be considering the possibility of setting up virtual laboratories for students. He made the announcement while addressing teh gathering at the recent programme organised by the Kuruvila Jacob Memorial Educational Trust at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras. Regarding the pressure that several students in CBSE schools are undergoing due to the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE), the chairman described that in order to combat the pressured caused on the students due to homework and projects, CBSE is encouraging schools to indulge in group projects and activities. The occasion also marked the launch of online and offl ine content in physics and chemistry by CBSE, which had been an initiative of Kuruvila Jacob, involving the collaborations of several academicians, research scholars, teachers as well as web designers.

GEMS EDUCATION ADDS ANOTHER FEATHER TO ITS CAP
A global recognition has been received, in form of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27001 Certifi cation for the quality of IT infrastructure, by GEMS Education, the largest kindergarten to grade 12 private school operator in the world. The ISO is the world’s largest developer and publisher of international standards and is recognised as the world’s leading non – governmental authority on quality standards. In order to certify GEMS Education’s Infrastructure and Data Centre services, both of them were examined and audited to ensure that they adhered to a rigorous set of standards of quality, security and reliability.

Three-Quarter Black-Thumbs!

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October 1, 2010

Three-quarter black-thumbs!

India’s rise as knowledge services hub contrasts with three out of its four females being illiterate

A recent report by UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) indicates a clear case of gender disparity in primary and secondary education across the world.
The first edition of the Global Education Digest (GED) warns that boys and girls in only 85 countries will have equal access to primary and secondary education by 2015, the cutoff year for achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) objective of eliminating gender disparities at all levels of education.

The Digest indicates that going by the present trend, over 72 countries will not be able to achieve the goal by 2015. Worse, 63 of these countries will also fail to ensure that boys and girls get equal opportunities to complete their secondary-level courses.

This is surprising, if not completely shocking, since the report has come out a full 15 years after the fourth World Conference on Women at Beijing in 1995. Shortly after this landmark conference, the international community had pledged to eliminate gender disparities at all levels of education by 2015.

Yet, as the GED indicates, two out of three countries in the world today face gender disparities in primary and secondary education, and as many as half May not be able to eliminate it by 2015.

As per the report, over 796 million adults lacked basic literacy skills across the globe in 2008, with nearly half of them being in South and West Asia, notably including India (283 million), Pakistan (51 million) and Bangladesh (49 million).

What comes as a shocker is that the share of illiterate women has almost remained static at 63-64% over the past 20 years even though the size of the global illiterate population has been shrinking during the period.
This can have a serious impact on a learning nation like India that is looking at catching up with the global economy and garnering the largest share of world’s knowledge outsourcing business. Talking about the needs of a learning society in his book eTransformation, Nagy K Hanna clearly states that the implications of the ongoing ICT revolution for education and learning are pervasive and profound, both in terms of the demand for new knowledge and skills and the capacity and modes of supplying such knowledge and skills. He also points out that skilled human resources are a necessary condition for leveraging available ICTs for re-inventing them to get closer to the realities and needs of a developing country like India. Unfortunately, despite proving its ICT capabilities on the global map, India has not been able to leverage its strength in technology to reduce the gender gap in education.
True, the country has managed to fi nally roll out the Right to Education (RTE) Act through the 86th Constitutional amendment eight years after it was passed in the Parliament, and it is a right step in the direction to ensure that the country not only meets its “education for all” objective but also creates a gender balance in the country’s primary education system. However, the RTE needs to be backed by a strong e-strategy too, which seems to be missing. While the country needs to spend 6,000 crore for setting up the National Knowledge Network, it also needs to chalk out plans for School Education Grid to ensure that every child, including
the girl child is able to secure a minimum level of education

It&rsquo:s All About Being Skilled!

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October 1, 2010

Book: The Ace of Soft Skills: Attitude, Communication and Etiquette for Success
Authors: Gopalaswamy Ramesh and Mahadevan Ramesh
Publishers: Pearson Education
Pages: 456
Price: 550 INR

By Yukti Pahwa

Making a successful employee out of an educationally qualified person depends upon certain factors such as communication and etiquette. The authors of the book, from enriched academic and professional backgrounds, portray the role of “Soft Skills built on Attitude,” “Manifested through Communication” and “Polished by Etiquette” in lives of those who aspire to be in any corporate/ service industry. The book begins with the definition of soft skills as the knowledge, other than technical (educationally acquired) knowledge, that is necessary for progress; along with its characteristics and the misconceptions that exist around it. The idea is to equip Indian professionals in carrying out effective interaction with international business community, especially addressing the USA, and vice versa.

The Book has been divided into to three parts. The first portion deals with chapters related to attitude. Here the importance of skills such as passion, pride, process of attaining goals, maintaining modesty and balance in attitude of self in work environment have been explained; in addition to group skills including team and shared accountability, and avoidance of blame game. Willingness to seek friendship and learning from people with diverse backgrounds and culture, avoiding stereotypes and biases of different nature, especially gender has been talked about in details. A whole chapter deals with “Learnability” and “continuous learning”, that entails learning about skills that equip employees to keep up with the ever changing world. Following chapter walks around the interplay between the performance and expectation, ending at a note that employees should always “under-promise” and “over-deliver”, with respect to the employers' expectations. Other chapters deal with a note on time management, accountability, analysing and managing risk parameters, alertness, resiliency in terms of optimism and keeping spirits high at work place, and finally, the importance of hard work.

The second part of the book highlights a unit on elements, modes of communication and distractions in communication; the source of distractions and the ways to minimise distortions in communication, in business scenarios such as presentations and group meetings. Furthermore, there is an explanation towards relevance of doing audience analysis and aim of impactful communication. The following chapters focus on listening skills, using correct posture and body language in different situations, use of visual aids, process of writing resume

A Case for Classrooms

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October 1, 2010

A Case for Classrooms

Installations will go up as IT adoption, now limited to labs in select institutions, rises in both government and private classrooms

By Pratap Vikram Singh

Technology is playing a vital role in modernising education systems. Among other things, interactive whiteboards (IWBs) and audiovisual equipment are emerging as powerful tools in modern teaching.

Interactive whiteboards are an alternative to traditional whiteboards and flipcharts. These whiteboards can connect to digital video distribution systems in educational institutions and can also be used to interact with online shared annotation and drawing environments. They offer a powerful means for integrating media elements into teaching to enhance content and support collaborative learning.

IWBs attract the attention of children. The teaching of complex concepts can be simplified through these interactive boards. In organisations other than educational institutions, IWBs can be used during board and client meetings and for presentations. The notes written on these boards can be saved and circulated via e-mail.

Nascent market, healthy outlook

Around one million interactive whiteboards are expected to be sold globally in 2010, according to a report by Futuresource Consulting of United Kingdom. The IWB adoption continues to gather steam, with nearly 750,000 boards sold worldwide in 2009.

According to the report, while one out of every hundred classrooms had an interactive whiteboard globally in 2004, the ratio has gone up to nine per hundred at present. Futuresource expects interactive whiteboard to reach one out of every seven classrooms in the world by 2011. It is forecasted that by 2011, 4.7 percent of schools will be having these boards. Interestingly, over 75 percent of the classrooms in United Kingdom have an IWB.

IWB Accessories

Projector: It enables the display of the computer monitor to be projected onto the whiteboard. Short-throw and ultra short-throw projectors have shown more efficiency in the operation.

Track: A track allows the whiteboard to be placed in a way to provide additional wall space in the front of the room. Some tracks provide power and data as well to the whiteboard. A mobile stand is also necessary to move the whiteboard between rooms. The height should be adjustable.

Printer: A printer allows copies of the whiteboard notes to be made. A slate or tablet makes it possible for students to control the whiteboard from the room.

Personal response system: This facilitates students to answer test questions posted on the whiteboard or take part in polls and surveys. Also attached is a wireless unit through which the interactive whiteboard is connected to a computer and operates wirelessly.

Remote control: This allows the presenter to control the board from different parts of the room and eliminates on-screen toolbars.

Types of whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards are sold in wide varieties based on the technology and the usage.

Resistive: These whiteboards are composed of two flexible sheets coated with a resistive material and separated by a micro-thin air gap. This technology allows one to use a finger, a stylus, or any other pointing device on the surface of the board.

Electromagnetic: These work on magnetic sensors that react and send a message back to the computer when they are activated by a magnetic pen. A number of wires are attached to the computer from the board. However, there are other alternative and emerging sensing technologies as well. Optical and infrared: The whiteboard surface responds to the pressure created by the finger and marker through infrared light. This technology allows whiteboards to be made of any material, and with this system no dry-erase marker or stylus is needed.

Embedded dot patterns: Here, the whiteboard surface has a microscopic dot pattern embedded in the writing surface where a wireless digital pen with an infrared camera reads the dot pattern to determine the exact location on the board.

Capacitive: Just like the electromagnetic type, the capacitive type works with an array of wires behind the board. In this case however the wires interact with fingers touching the screen instead of an electromagnetic pen.

Laser: These whiteboards react to infrared laser beams that sweep across the whiteboard surface. The board surface is usually constructed with a hard surface like ceramic, which has long life and erases cleanly.

Ultrasonic and infrared: Here, the marker or stylus sends out both an ultrasonic sound and an infrared light to the whiteboard surface that is made of any material.

Ultrasonic only: These devices have two ultrasonic transmitters in two corners and two receivers in the other two corners. Touching with a pen or even the finger on the whiteboard causes these point waves to be suppressed, and the receivers communicate the fact to the controller.Frustrated internal reflection: In this case, infrared light bounces within a flexible and transparent surface. Image processing software turns the light spots observed by the cameras into mouse or pointer movements.

As per the data available for 2010, India has only one IWB in 200 classrooms. This is expected to go up to six in hundred by 2014. In 2009, overall there were 7,500 IWB in India. This year, it has grown to 16,000 and by 2011 it is expected to shoot up to 38,000. This shows a clear spur in the demand for interactive boards in the India classrooms. According to a research report by Futuresource, India provides a significant market opportunity, because of its 4.9 million classrooms spread across 1.2 million schools. Out of these, 1.6 million classrooms are in private schools, which represent a mere 19 percent of the total number of schools in the country.

Govt versus private schools

Overall, there are almost as many private schools in India as there are government schools which have computers, however, the market is extremely fragmented with a vast disparity in the education system throughout the country. In most schools, IT equipment tends to be located in an IT lab as opposed to individual classrooms, thereby limiting the potential penetration opportunities for IWBs and projectors.

In India, the adoption of IWBs in private schools has been speedier than in government schools. However, in many other countries including UK, Italy, Spain, Australia, Russia, it is the other way round. Governments are quite serious about IWBs' adoption and are prioritising their installations in schools and higher educational institutions.

Interactive whiteboards serve the purpose of an electronic file and allow the teacher to store notes and annotations for later distribution in both paper as well as electronic format. Companies are now focusing on creating supplementing instructional material specifically designed for interactive whiteboards.

Adoption of IWBs in private schools is faster than in government schools. In many European countries, it is the other way round

When it comes to non-education segments, IWB options are still somewhat limited. However, prospects of using IWB in meeting rooms, both in the government and industry sectors quite bright. So far, IWB market stakeholders seem to have taken little interest in developing IWB offerings for the non-education streams. A potential barrier for IWB market growth is that in many Indian schools, computers are used in computer labs rather than in classrooms. Since IWBs need to be connected to computers, many schools will initially be installing a single unit (for the lab). They will require more IWB units only when computers expand from the labs into the classrooms. Given this, it may be more relevant to consider IWB penetration by schools and not by classrooms in India.

Gearing for an Economic Boom in the North East

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October 1, 2010

Gearing for an Economic Boom in the North East

The North-East India, of late, is being seen as a fertile recruitment ground for IT and BPO service providers. The government and private players are using this opportunity to provide relevant skills training to the population. Public – Private Partnerships are crucial to these developments,
with companies willing to invest in training requirements..

The Government of Megahalya signed a MoU with Symantec, a foreign franchise, to develop and implement IT skills development
and IT educational programmes in the state. The MoU is aimed at enhancing the skill requirements of IT graduates, besides maintaining a database of certifi ed participants, that can feed into employment initiatives. The focus is to take a holistic skill development approach, understand industry requirements and create specifi c development initiatives. The training programme is being offered by the state government free of cost. The state government has been encouraging and attempting to approach IT and ITES companies to invest in the state, with the objectives of creating IT employment, improving IT infrastructure and using IT as a catalyst to fuel economy in other industries. The state government has also asked the company to conduct job fairs in Shillong so that students can be provided placements in top fi rms after the completion of the programme. Around 2000 students will be benefi ted in the fi rst phase of the programme. According to the agreement Symantec is responsible for implementing education services in the State thereby running a training program to train about 2000 candidates in its fi rst phase. This will help in creating employment opportunities for candidates both inside
and outside the state. Symantec has partnered with ETPL (India) to compile sample profi les of graduates from different disciplines and establish skill requirement to develop IT orientation.
Dale Smith, Senior Director of Education Services, APJ, Symantec elaborates on the details of the program. According to her, Symantec’s program imbibes good quality orientation, superior process delivery and a keen emphasis on information availability and security on every trained student forhigher job achievement. Also, by providing trained professionals to the industry the state will be able to give signifi cant and sustained cost advantage, attributed to the wide differential in wage-costs and productivity gains achieved by fi rms in sourcing from Meghalaya. Another fi rm to have taken this attempt forward is Genpact, one of the country’s top BPO employers. Tata Consultancy Services and 24/7 Cus-

Meghalaya recently signed a MoU with Symantec for skills development in the state. Could you give us details about the programme?
It is a fact that the Government of Meghalaya had signed an MoU with Symantec, for IT skill development programmes in the state. As a matter of fact, the tie up also includes advisory services and residency programme for the fi rst year. So far, Symantec has conducted the training programme and provided training for 1941 students. Besides, 531 students have been certifi ed so far.
DONALD P WAHLANG COMMISSIONER & SECRETARY, HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE, IT AND SPORTS GOVERNMENT OF MEGHALAYA
Could you elaborate on the present situation of skill development initiatives in Meghalaya?
Symantec and NIIT have been responsible for the skill development of the students in Meghalaya. Symantec has trained around 1941 student in various IT security related courses whereas NIIT was instrumental in training students in various courses like IT Fundamentals and Tally, Diploma in Financial Accounting, Diploma in Information Technology, and Networking. The courses offered by Symantec are almost in the fi nal stages whereas the courses offered by NIIT are still going on. In addition, IT Department, GoM also supported DOEACC Society for conducting IT skill development
What have been the challenges in the process of implementing the skill development initiatives in the state?
The challenges in implementing the skill development initiative in the state have included hurdles like the mismatch between the course content and student expectations. Also, since the courses offered are free of cost, the youth often do not take it seriously. Post training placement avenues have been a challenge too.
What are the emerging areas in IT that you foresee for the state?
Emerging areas in IT that have the potential to fl ourish include BPOs and Software Services. BPOs can very well utilise the availability of manpower which is fl uent in English, while the software services can make use of the eligible resources.
What is the importance accorded to PPP models?
Public Private Partnerships are of crucial importance in skills development initiatives. NIIT and Symantec are important collaborations for skill development. BASIX has been appointed on a PPP mode to run CSCs in Meghalaya. Other projects, apart from IT related projects, have also been initiated on a PPP / BOOT (Build Own Operate Transfer) model in the state. Recently, several companies have evinced interest in setting up their businesses in Meghalaya. Your comments. With several e-Governance project initiatives on the forefront, companies are looking at investing in Meghalaya. There are several reasons for this trend. The state government has been encouraging and supporting numerous developmental projects. Also, peaceful environment has prevailed in the state during the last 10 years. Low-cost production inputs for the companies due to easily available workforce has also been a reason for the trend. Besides, these companies can easily tap the knowledge, technological aptitude, and ingenuity of this available workforce. Additionally, the state has a strategic location and easy access to other neighboring states.

tomer have also joined the bandwagon. Low attrition rate, good knowledge of the English language and a sense of loyalty are the qualities that are being touted as the key factors in promoting this trend. The north-east India is being seen as a fertile recruitment ground for IT and BPO service providers. The hiring trend among BPO’s are refl ective of this development. Firms like 24/7 Customer has hired about 150 people from north-east and east India in the last few years, while Maveric Systems, an independent testing organisation, has hired 24 students from four engineering colleges and one university there. In order to improve the technical skills the employees, companies are also willing to invest in training requirements of the new recruits. ‘24/7 Varsity’ programme was launched in Guwahati by 24/7 Customer to educate lecturers in universities in skills required for the BPO industry. Signifi cant investments are expected with the entry of IT and BPO fi rms, which will automatically result n the overall development of the region. The latest phenomenon is of crucial importance even for the IT and the BPO industry in the context of the industry facing a severe shortage of manpower. Currently, the industry employs 1.6 million people. Despite this, supply of quality manpower has for long been a nemesis for the industry

International News: October 2010

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October 1, 2010

Ayurveda medical college in UAE

A Middle East-settled non-resident Indian industrialist, B R Shetty, recently announced his plans regarding opening of an Ayurveda medical college at the upcoming Herbal City in Abu Dhabi in the UAE in collaboration with Santhigiri Ashram in Kerala. He mentioned the same while addressing a gathering at a one-day conference on ‘Health and Research in The Middle East Asian Countries’, organised as part of the Parnasala Dedication Celebrations at Santhigiri Ashram. Santhigiri Healthcare Division is running a chain of Ayurveda hospitals and panchakarma centres all over India besides two medical colleges, one for Ayurveda and the other for siddha in Kerela

Online courses for Ohio students

Chancellor Eric D Fingerhut, from Ohio Board of Regents, announced the launch of OhioLearns! Gateway, a new initiative called for by Gov. Ted Strickland and the Ohio General Assembly. It would give all Ohio high school students access to online courses. This initiative is an addition to the existing OhioLearns! program, which has provided higher education distance learning courses and degree programs for public and private colleges and universities for more than 10 years. The students can avail navigation of the online course catalog and select from 40 approved courses, linking them to a variety of course providers and web-based courses. The courses will assist school districts across Ohio to differentiate educational offerings and meet the various needs of their students.

Australia, 1000 Victorian Schools to receive enriched experience with Cisco support

Cisco wired and wireless networking are to be standardised by the Department of Early Education and Child Development (DEECD), as the foundation for 21st-century teaching and learning in up to 1,000 primary and secondary schools across Victoria. This education-grade network will support future demand from one-to-one computing, mobility for flexible learning spaces, high-definition video, digital content and the Ultranet. DEECD’s innovative use of Cisco networking technology in schools will help create media-rich and highly engaging online curricula centered around video and collaboration, automate administrative processes, safeguard important school resources, and enhance the learning process in countless other ways.

Launch of the New School Model at Abu Dabi

Dr Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Director General of Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), recently announced the launch of the New School Model (NSM). Dr Al Khaili explained that the new school model is to help in establishing a better education system and is to focus on overall development of the students, teachers, environment and community at large.

KUSTAR collaborates with Georgia Institute of Technology for education and research

A partnership has been announced between Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research (KUSTAR) and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), to develop cutting edge Engineering-based education and research initiatives in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States of America (USA). A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed at a ceremony held in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The aim of this collaboration is to establish a framework for exploring sponsored research, joint research opportunities and joint educational programmes. The two parties will explore areas in which Georgia Tech May provide assistance with short-and long-term faculty and administrative needs, and encourage exchange experiences for students and faculty.

US scientist honoured with Stockholm Water Prize

Recently, Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, conferred the Stockholm Water Prize on US scientist Rita R Colwell for her pioneering research on prevention of waterborne diseases. Colwell, a scientist with the University of Maryland and John Hopkins University in Stockholm, has made outstanding contributions to control the spread of cholera which affects some five million people worldwide and causes deaths to an estimated 120,000 people annually. She was joined by 17 previous Stockholm Water Prize laureates and hundreds of water experts at the City Hall of Stockholm.

Corporate News: October 2010

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October 1, 2010

Spice to enter education sector

With idea of diversifying into educational space, the Spice Group plans to set up a global university at Modipur in Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh by 2012. Recently, Group Chairman BK Modi described that the university is to support and propagate “holistic education”. The total cost of the project is estimated to be around `1,000 crore and the university is to be completed by 2012. To be built on nearly 100 acres at the site of the now defunct Modi Xerox factory, the university will be a part of S Foundation. The group is also planning to set up a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) unit in Rampur, which will start its operations in the next three months.

NIIT Forays into Afghanisthan

NIIT, leading Global Talent Development Corporation and Asia’s largest IT trainer, now forays into Afghanistan. The company has entered into a standard education Agreement with ARIA Institute of higher education, one of the top education institutes in the country, to develop an employable talent pool of IT professionals in Afghanistan. Under this standard education agreement, NIIT will offer cutting edge programs in software engineering and networking. NIIT will also offer career programs of six months to two years duration, a host of modular programs such as office productivity tools, hardware and networking programs, creative publishing and other high end technology programs to enhance employability for youth.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt invests $400M in education, Texas

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the publishing giant is to make a $400 million investment to back up the company’s increasing emphasis on putting more technology into classrooms. The announcement regarding the same was made on September 13, 2010 and it was mentioned alongside that the investment includes $100 million in incubator money for technology supporting student achievement. The Boston-based company also plans to invest $300 million over the next three years developing its own technology, such as a pilot algebra application for the Apple iPad currently being tested by 400 California students.

Sequoia Capital, SONG invest $15mn in K12 Techno

Sequoia Capital and Song Advisors announced that they have invested $ 15mn in K12 Techno Services Pvt. Ltd. K12 manages over 60 schools run by 15 different trusts under the Gowtham Model School and Orchids – the International school brand. It offers a whole gamut of specialized education support services to enhance the quality of learning and teaching. Sequoia Capital’s global experience and local expertise will help fuel K12’s expansion plans. With this investment, KP Balaraj, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital and Ravishankar GV, Principal, Sequoia Capital and Vishal Vasishth of SONG have joined the board of K12. Sequoia Capital’s
portfolio includes global leaders like Cisco, Goo le, Oracle, Electronic Arts and Yahoo! and market leaders in India including Café Coffee Day, SKS Microfi nance, Just Dial and Shaadi.com. ISB based Song Investment Advisors is backed by Soros economic development fund, Omidiyar Network and Google. This is Sequoia Capital’s third investment in India’s education sector and SONG has also focused on education as one of their key focus sectors. SONG targets the high growth SME space in India catering to mass market needs.

NIIT LAUNCHES GOOGLE CERTIFIED ADVANCED ONLINE ADVERTISING PROGRAMMEME
NIIT, leading Global Talent Development Corporation and Asia’s largest IT trainer, announced the launch of ‘Advanced Online Advertising’ programme for advertising and marketing professional in association with Google India. As part of this initiative, NIIT will offer a specially designed training programme in online advertising which will be certifi ed by Google. The training programme in online advertising has been designed and customized to equip the Indian advertising and marketing professional with better understanding of Google’s global advertising programme Google ‘AdWords’. The programme content and module outline has been designed by experts from Google and will cover all aspects of search engine marketing, measuring and optimising online campaigns

Nothing is Impossible

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October 1, 2010

Ravinder Goyal
Director IACM SmartLearn Ltd

“Nothing is impossible” if you dare to dream and take feasible extraordinary actions towards achieving your dreams.

In 1981, I was shifted from our home town Bhiwani to Delhi after completing four years of schooling and enrolled in a public school in Kalkaji. The school was having infrastructure till 7th standard and was offering further education at other campus which was quite far. That made me to shift from this school to a government school in CR Park for my further education.

I scored 73.3% in board exams and left with little option to choose second rank colleges or to go to South side for an engineering course. My family decided and opted for the first one, and I enrolled for BSc-Maths in Deshbandhu College, where I felt that it is just for the sake of a degree for which students are enrolled without any specific interest in studies. Partying and missing classes was not my cup of tea. So I didn’t appear for first year exams and dropped out.

In between, after my 12th exams were over, I was sitting with my father in his office, when one of his friends, Col RG Malhotra, owner of ICS, a computer training company, just dropped in. When he asked me what I was doing after 12th, I just said “nothing” and also that I was not happy with the college life. He just told my father that he was taking me and will get me enrolled at the main training center of ICS for a two years course. Without any further discussion, I just followed him and enrolled for a computer course.

That’s was my first exposure to computers way back in 1989. Over a period of next five to six months, I felt that’s exactly what I was looking for. During these years, I kept running a small showroom of electronic goods, as my love for electronics was not completely over. During the last months of course with ICS, I decided to change from electronics to computer training and started ICT – ‘Institute of Computer Technology’ with just four PC XT 8088 machines with 640KN RAM. I remember my vendor’s words, he said “drive carefully, don’t jerk too much”. So I, with my brother, Rajesh Goyal, drove back home the PC like carrying a pregnant woman in the car. I would like to mention here that my borther and my father OP Goyal have been a source of constant moral support and have always stood by me in whatever decisions I have taken throughout my career. The first team at ICT was me, my brother, my friend from ICS, a teacher of my brother, who joined us on part time basis. That’s how I started my journey back in 1992 in a computer training era and still travelling. Apart from this I would like to sincerely mention here the names of Dr OP Sharam, Pradeep Chaturvedi and Dr Janardan Jha, who have been my mentors and have always extended their full guidance and support
whenever it was needed. During first five years, I explored software development, computer sales and even planned to setup a manufacturing assembly line for which I visited Taiwan back in 1994. Due to little exposure and lack of resources, our growth was quite slow, but I started dreaming abou having a nation-wide training company. My first task was to brand it. I closed down all the software development and sales business and remained idle for almost one year around my marriage in 1996. With a go getter attitude, I never allowed myself to drown in the lake of failures and closures.

So, I designed the SMART Learning teaching methodology, in which I focused on learner’s participation and making the classroom sessions more interactive; from teaching to explanation. IACM became the only training company in India to win the most coveted National Golden Peacock Innovative Product/Services Award in 2002 for its SMART Learning teaching methodology. Basically the tie-up with Manipal IT education in 2002 to develop the PG and Advanced Diploma courses in Hardware and Networking under Sikkim Manipal University and training of the trainers across 150+ centers in 11 cities across brought the confidence to start IACM franchise expansion. I also attended and certified myself on various certifications like MCSE, MCDBA, MCDST and CCNA during 2000-01 to gain deeper understanding of the certification requirements. In 2003, I was awarded with “Gem of India” award in recognition of outstanding services to society and excellence in education sector and also delivered a talk during 13th World Congress on Total Quality organised by Institute of Directors in Mumbai. In the course of progressions, I developed various sessions for training and developing the team and the business partners on selling, operations, leadership and HR.
In 2003, seeing increasing volumes of students opting for IACM’s training, I considered the use of technology in operations and started working on on-line management systems. I completed my graduation in management through distance education mode around this time. Today, IACM is almost working on a paper-less office concept and have build-up various portal for its day-to-day operations: cconnectnew.iacm-india.com (for centre operation); econnect.iacm-india.com (for students); placement.iacm-india.com (for recruiters); vijayeebhavo.iacm-india.com (for scholarship); faculty.iacm-india.com (for faculty testing); skillcertification.
iacm-india.com; and (for assisting companies to filter right candidate to avoid huge cost of interviewing and enabling non IACM students to show their expertise in 100+ skill area. Under beta testing. I received “Certificate of Approval” in 2009 by Constantinus Club and Austrian Professional Association of Management Consultancy and IT in “Constantinus International” category for our C-Connect Project. It was termed as the first non- European entry. This was our first international exposure in IACM. Today we have 60+ centers across India and are present in 14 states. The journey, I started in 1997 with a dream of a company
having its presence across India was fulfilled. The dreams never stopped. We are on our way to open our first International office very soon. Still dreaming…

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